Kerry, Israel's Netanyahu to meet in Germany next week

Kerry, who has said he planned to go to the Middle East soon to try to calm the violence, was traveling to Europe on Friday. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, confirmed the planned meeting in Germany during an interview with CNN.

"That discussion will be, 'OK, how do we get back to where we were in order to calm things down,'" Dermer said.

Earlier, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Netanyahu will travel to Germany on Wednesday for talks with Merkel on the security situation in Israel and the wider Middle East.

Mark Toner, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said in a daily press briefing that Kerry was likely to meet the Israeli prime minister, “probably” in Germany, but details of the trip were still being finalized.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert. Additional reporting by Idrees Ali.; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)